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Sophos reports 40% increase in virus growth on last year

January 07, 1998
Sophos Press Release

Companies should be on their guard now more than
ever, according to the latest virus figures released by Sophos,
antivirus specialist.

Sophos has recorded a continuing increase in the number of new
viruses throughout 1997. The total number of distinct viruses now
stands at over 13,000 compared to 9,315 at this time last year. The
most notable rise is the increase in macro viruses, which have
doubled every six months for the last two years.

In an annual round-up of viruses, the high profile of macro
viruses seems to have obscured the continuing and real threat of
other variants. The traditional boot sector viruses, DOS program
file infectors and batch infectors, parasitic DOS viruses, and the
relatively new low-level Windows 95 viruses, all made their mark.
The first native Windows NT virus, Cabanas, also emerged, in
reports to Sophos, at the end of 1997.

"Macro viruses remain the big threat, but companies should
remember that new viruses don't remove the risk of infection from
older viruses," said Petra Merne, marketing manager at Sophos.
"It's worrying for companies to see the number of viruses growing
each year, but if comprehensive
antivirus protection measures are in place, the danger of virus
infection is minimised."

About Sophos

More than 100 million users in 150 countries rely on Sophos as the best protection against complex threats and data loss. Sophos is committed to providing complete security solutions that are simple to deploy, manage, and use that deliver the industry's lowest total cost of ownership. Sophos offers award winning encryption, endpoint security, web, email, mobile and network security backed by SophosLabs - a global network of threat intelligence centers.